RARE IFUGAO BULUL

Northern Luzon, Philippines / 50 cm

Buluul are deities
associated with the paddy harvest by the Ifugao people of Northern Luzon,
Philippines. The term buulul means ‘rice-god figure with a resident spirit’,
that is why they are usually kept in the rice granary. Basically they are
guardians of the paddy crop and they are also credited of increasing
miraculously the rice in the granary. They are made in pairs — male and female,
the most common — or also in single figures, there can be several bulul in one
Ifugao granary. At harvest ceremonies taking place in the house in the
village/hamlet, the bulul deities, other spirits and ancestors’ spirits are
invited by the mumbaki priests to join the festivities, and partake of rice
beer. At the same time they are supposed to make continue the groth of paddy in
the fields. Pig sacrifices are given to the bulul and the figures are bathed in
the pig’s blood at this occasion.This standing figure —
bulul are represented either in squatting or standing positions — is finely
carved, it shows the characteristic faceted aspect of Ifugao carving,
especially in the face and pedestal. The brown reddish wood, showing a light
patina, has not been completly covered by the blood’s offerings, it is mostly
the pedestal, which presents a blood crust. The face is treated in a sober,
stylized, manner. Its stare is accentuated by the white beads figuring the eyes
nailed to the face.The style of the piece is roughly between those
of Mayaoyao and Batad, about East of the central Ifugao area (Banawe), as the
treatment of the face, arms and legs indicates.